Williams leads Lady Hawks past Rust in Coaches vs. Cancer Classic

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon senior LaTerial Williams calmly stepped to the free-throw line.

With 20 seconds remaining and a one-point lead against Rust College on Saturday, Williams knew what was at stake. The Lady Hawks had played too hard to allow another close game to get away.

The Gadsden native sank both of her free throws, watched teammate Kyra Holiday sink a free throw with four seconds left and then enjoyed the 55-51 victory in the final game of the Huntingdon College Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

"I knew I had to make those shots to help us keep the lead," Williams said. "This was a good win for us. We knew we all had to play as a team for a full 40 minutes today. We're coming together and it's making a difference.I saw a lot of leaders step up in this game."

The win helped make up for a 16-point loss to Rust (6-10) earlier this season and snapped a three-game losing streak for Huntingdon (4-4). More importantly, coming off a four-point loss to Millsaps on the first day of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, head coach Buzz Phillips liked the resolve his team showed on Saturday.

"In the second half (of Thursday's game with) Millsaps, we started to become a better team," Phillips said. "That continued today. The biggest thing I saw today, that we haven't done in previous games, is we played two complete halves of basketball.

"At halftime, I told the girls it was going to get tough in the second half. The girls dealt with it, fought through it and never quit."

Phillips said he was pleased with the way several players step forward on Saturday. He was especially happy with Williams, who finished with a game-high 19 points.

"LaTerial stepped up for us today," Phillips said. "She played 34 of 40 minutes and was our leading scorer, despite picking up three fouls in the first half. She didn't foul out and she continued to be a leader on the court. She was 7-of-8 on free throws and hit two big ones with the game on the line."

Behind Williams, Morgan Crawford added nine points and five rebounds and Sekal Ousley led the Lady Hawks with eight rebounds.

"We're going to enjoy this one and take two much needed days off," Phillips said. "Then we're going to start getting ready for next week. We've got three games and two of them are conference games. These are the games that really count and we've got to be ready."

Huntingdon returns to action at Roland Arena on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. for the first of two Great South Athletic Conference games during the week. The Lady Hawks play Wesleyan on Wednesday and host Salem at 2 p.m. on Jan. 7. In between, Huntingdon hosts Pensacola Christian at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

"Today's win is a good way to go into the new year and conference play," Williams said. "For the seniors (Williams, Jessi Andrews and Whitney Toole) and the whole team, we want to do better and go farther in conference this season. To accomplish that, we know we have to stay poised and focused and keep working hard."